b'Dont be afraid to get involved because youeconomic situationand he says it was feel like you dont know enough yet, he says.something he wouldnt trade for the world. I think feeling like you need to learn more isThe resilience, kindness, and community key to continued success. It should drive youthat I witnessed and interacted with in those to participate more and to take advantagevillages brought much-needed perspective into of these opportunities as much as possible.my life, he says. It helped me to develop my Most people want to see you succeed, so getvalues as I was growing into adulthood and has involved, make new connections, and broadenhad a major impact on how I view the world.your horizons. I learned that investing in people can be Fricker took his own advice firsthand in hispainful, but that it can also pay off for the mid-20s when he left home to spend somerest of ones life, Fricker says. And finally, I time in Nicaragua developing a 20-acre modellearned that the world is complicated, but if you farm, where they tried dozens of crops anddevelop the right relationships, work hard and integrated traditional farming practices andhave an open mind, success can be achieved, modern agricultural practices. That exposureeven if it doesnt look exactly like what you allowed him to experience and be part ofexpected it to.a completely different culture and socio-ERIN DOUGHTIEBorn in Austin, Texas, a generation removedSince then, Doughtie has been able to share from her familys farm due to the Dust Bowl,messages about agriculture and its impacts on Erin Doughtie practiced her passion for helpingthe worldeven on popular television programs people by interning for refugee resettlementsuch as the CBS Sunday Morning Show, where organizations during her undergraduate studiesshe talked about the history, evolution and pro-in International Relations. During one of theseduction of mini and seedless watermelon.internships she helped support female refugeesThese days, many people dont understand from over 12 countries operating a communitywhat a complex operation it is not only to breed garden space to produce extra food and improvenew varieties but to grow, transport, sell and their English skills, and she identified the wideprepare fresh produce to be in near year-round impact agriculture can have, especially on small- supply on grocery store shelves, she says. We holder farmers across the globe.also discussed the continuing trend of consumers From there, Doughtie received a masters inpreferring smaller and smaller watermelons due Agricultural Science & Development and studiedto changes in family size and household composi-Agronomy at the doctoral level, and eventu- tion, as well as concerns about food waste.ally undertook MBA studies during COVID-19The secret to communicating? Doughtie says through the University of Nebraska.its a team effort to get the best message across. In my first year, I experienced my firstThough Im responsible for collecting and marketing course, and everything immediatelyinterpreting this market feedback and then com-clicked, Doughtie, now Syngenta Vegetablemunicating it in a clear way to our internal team Seeds Americas regional vegetable seedsand external stakeholders, it truly is a team effort portfolio lead - watermelon, says. This is what Ito ensure that were communicating effectively, needed to do within the agriculture industry. she says.SEPTEMBER 2023 SEEDWORLD.COM /25'